Stingers start 2021–22 RSEQ regular season on the right foot on the road against the Martlets
Stingers veterans helped lead the team to victory for their first regular season game in over 600 days. In preparation for the game, Stingers head coach Tenicha Gittens said she hoped to harness the excitement and turn it into good energy for a competitive and successful game. Concordia did just that, coming out ready to battle against the younger Martlets team.
The Stingers took the lead almost immediately. McGill head coach Rikki Bowles called a timeout early in the first quarter in an attempt to stop the momentum. However, the Stingers remained strong, building their lead throughout the rest of the game.
Caroline Task, a fifth-year guard, said winning the first game is “definitely a confidence booster” for the rest of the season. She attributed the successful start to strong defence and good team chemistry.
“We feed a lot on our defence. And we were there, we were present defensively,” Task said.
After an injury to Areej Burgonio’s left knee in the third quarter, Concordia’s command started to waver, and their lead began to shrink. Luckily, Burgonio was able to get her knee checked and re-taped, and quickly returned to the game to help her team get back on track. Stingers veteran Task wasn’t worried about the slowdown.
“Obviously we had some lapses like any game, but we’re a team, we have really good chemistry off the court. And I think that really translates on the court,” Task said.
The lapses are something Task believes the team will need to limit in their upcoming home opener against an experienced Bishops team. That game is set to start next week on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m.
With the first win of the 2021–22 RSEQ regular season already secured by the Stingers, it looks to be an exciting season. Gittens said she has the same goal as all the other teams in the conference, to be champions. Her strategy is to take things one day at a time and build the team “brick by brick.”
“It starts in the preseason at summertime. It’s in the weight room. It’s in practice. It’s in those extra shots you get up at night. Every part of that journey is a brick that you want to lay to build that wall, to get us to our ultimate goal — to be champions,” Gittens said.
Photograph by Laurent Beausoleil
